Iron Deficieny and Pain Anyone?

Hi All,

I am iron deficient anemic and probably have been for the past 8 years (DS Surgery was 11 years ago).  A year ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.  The pain started for me when I was overweight.  I always just contributed the pain to the weight I was carrying around.  11 years later and 250 pounds lost, I live with daily pain.  The pain started on my left and right leg right below my hip.  I consistently have so much pain on both sides I can not even lay on my sides for more than a few minutes at a time.  As the weight started to come off and I became more "normal" I started experiencing other pain throughout my body.  I complained to my doctor at doctor visits but did nothing more than complain until things just started to ache way too much and ibuprophen became my best friend (when it worked).  A Rheumatologist diagnosed me last March with Fibromyalgia.  We have tried many of the medications that have been successful with Fibromyalgia patients and none of them have helped, we even tried the new medications designated for Fibromyalgia like Lyrica and Cymbalta and all it did was make me loose hair! 

In all the reading I have been doing about Iron Deficient Anemia I am wondering if my pain is caused from being anemic.  Has anyone else experienced this or heard of this?  Is there treatment?  I do know that even when my iron levels returned to normal after Iron Infusions I still experienced pain so I am not sure that getting my levels in order will not be the "cure" I am dreaming for.  Are there any other Iron Deficient DS'ers out there experiencing this?

Have you ever been tested for food allergies and food sensitivities? Many foods can and will cause severe pain depending on your level of tolerance. Whenever I eat Soy my muscles and joints hurt so bad and Ibuprophen and tylenol barely touch the pain. Wheat and gluten products, dairy, corn and many others will al do the same but don't expect to have a regular doctor tell you that. Find a good Naturopath or Holistic MD willing to do a blood test to check you for those sensitivities.

Good luck in finding what is causing your pain! 

Sharon

I have both lupus and fibromyalgia.  Lyrica and Cymbalta have been  wonder drugs for me!  The pain never completely goes away, but it becomes more tolerable.

This past summer, I became iron deficient anemic for the first time in my life.  I had a month of iron infusions, plus some multivite infusions to correct some deficiencies I had.  Totally my fault, due to the stress of dealing with my Mom's decline and death. It's hard to tell whether the pain was from fibromyalgia or iron deficiency, as I live with some level of pain every day of my life.

The only other issue I had prior was with calcium, and I have been working extremely hard to keep my calcium levels up.  I found calcium citrate capsules, and have started taking them instead of the tablets, which may help me absorb more of it.

I also take Creon with everything - food and vites, to improve absorption.  Full labs are due next month, so we'll see if my theory worked.

Kim I experience muscle and bone pain when my iron gets too low and I need another round of infusions. I also had pains when vitamin D was low (wasn't deficient). I recently read an article and if I can find it will share where vitamin d deficiencies immulate fibro. Not saying that is your situation but something to consider if the various fibro meds aren't helping.

interesting....I recently had lab work ran and I was Vitamin D deficient (I live in Arizona for crying out loud!) and my Doctor has me taking 50,000 units of Vitamin D 2 for a few months and then I will take a higher dose of over the counter Vitamin D from then on.  I did not see my actual numbers to know how low my Vitamin D was and now I am interested to know if in my past blood work I was on the low end.  Something to look into, I wonder if that is the cause of my pain.  I would also be interested to know if I can become pain free once I have replenished.